Zhejiang Scenic Spots

Author: Tu Shuxun, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2000-02-01
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Represents a bug on the left and a spirit on the right. Ling Shan Cave is a vertical limestone karst cave located on the southern bank of the Qiantang River in Zhou Pu, Hangzhou. It is known as Ling Shan Cave, formerly called "Yunquan Lingdong," and is now renowned for its "Ling Shan Fantasy." The cave is tall and deep, with a height of 109 meters from the bottom to the top, a rarity among cave landscapes in Zhejiang. The cave combines wind, water, air, and waterfalls, with natural ventilation throughout, keeping it warm in winter and cool in summer. Ling Shan Cave is divided into Upper Cave and Lower Cave. The lower cave features bizarre and varied rocks and stones, some resembling birds and beasts, others like exotic flowers and plants; some like jade palaces and towers, and others like stacked stone gardens. A giant stone pillar, known as "Tianzhu Feng," stands in the main hall, measuring 24.5 meters tall with a diameter of 6 meters and covering an area of 30 square meters. It took over a million years to form. On the left wall of the hall stands a magnificent stone lotus waterfall, composed of countless stone stalactites, reaching tens of meters in height and width, like a cascading waterfall, awe-inspiring and spectacular. There are stone steps connecting the lower cave to the upper cave, winding along the cliffs, and climbing the "Stone Corridor" is even more thrilling. From the "Stone Corridor," one can gaze down at the lower cave, with its myriad formations lying at one's feet, evoking a sense of transcending to the heavens.
Yu Hang Chao Shan Plum Sea Chao Shan is one of the three major plum appreciation sites in Jiangnan, located 30 kilometers northeast of Hangzhou. Although its peak is only 270 meters high, it is named so because it is higher than the nearby Gao Ting and Huang He mountains, with no high peaks surrounding it. It is located to the left of Tang Qi and to the right of Lin Ping, with convenient transportation. The Chao Shan Scenic Area consists of the Ten-Kilometer Plum Forest, Daming Tang Plum Garden, Wu Changshuo Tomb, Chao Feng, and Long Dong. In spring, the fragrance of plum blossoms is intoxicating; in autumn, the scenery is delightful.
Ten-Kilometer Plum Forest · Daming Tang Chao Shan Plum Forest stretches from Chenjia Bridge to Pengwu for over ten kilometers, extending one kilometer deep. From late winter to early spring, red, white, yellow, and green plum blossoms bloom in succession. Immersed in the sea of flowers and enveloped in their fragrance, one cannot help but linger and forget time. At the foot of the mountain lies Daming Tang Plum Garden, where ancient plum trees harmonize with cultural landscapes. The Tang plum trees and Song plum trees are renowned both at home and abroad. In the Tang plum garden, old branches burst with new buds; in the Song plum pavilion, red plum trees with gnarled trunks and moss-covered surfaces bloom in six colors, emitting a rare cold fragrance. The modern art master Wu Changshuo once wrote a poem: "Ten years without visiting the fragrant snow sea, plum blossoms remember me as I remember them." In the Song plum pavilion, there are also couplets by Wu Changshuo: "The crane suddenly arrives to plow, just as the fragrant snow lingers in spring, with the jade fairy dancing at night; where has the dragon gone? There are vines hanging by the moon, and stone tigers scaring the autumn." To the west of Daming Tang, there is Wu Changshuo's tomb and memorial hall. From Daming Tang, one can enter the "Fuxiang Pavilion." During peak blooming season, standing atop Fuxiang Pavilion, one is greeted by a sea of flowers—vibrant red plums and delicate white plums, their fragrance overwhelming and intoxicating. In recent years, many new varieties have been added to the plum sea, one of which is particularly striking—a single flower with both red and white petals. Enjoying the countless plum trees and billions of blossoms from Fuxiang Pavilion is truly like falling into a sea of fragrance, permeating one's entire body. Leaders such as Zhu De and Deng Xiaoping have all come here to appreciate the plum blossoms.
Chao Shan's Lotus Pond covers more than five acres and is surrounded by winding paths, small bridges, rockeries, and waterfalls, creating a picturesque contrast with the plum forest and adding to the charm of the plum sea.
Chao Feng · Long Dong Chao Shan is slender and elegant, with many unique rocks, making it an ideal place to ascend and enjoy the scenery of the water towns. Literary figures such as Lin Qinnan and Yu Dafu wrote about their climbs, while artists Mei Lanfang and Gai Jiaotian also ascended the peak. Wu Changshuo visited it multiple times. From the green bamboo pavilion near Daming Tang, the mountain path features over 1,400 stone steps, with scenic spots like "Joyful Stones," "Cloud Rock," "Tiger Rock," "Heaven Gate," and "Eight Immortals Stones." After passing through "Eighteen Banana Bend," one reaches "Cloud Collapse Stone," the summit of Chao Feng, where one can see wonders such as the "Jade Fish Stone," "Flying Eagle Stone," "Stone Pillar Peak," and "Wife-Gazing Peak." The "Tangqi Records" state: "The summit of Chao Feng is filled with dangerous rocks, leaving traces of immortals sitting and lying." The Chao Feng Temple soars into the sky, and 300 meters behind it, the Eight Immortals Pavilion floats like an eagle in the sky. The dragon cave on the back slope of Chao Shan has both land and water passages. The land cave is a karst cave with caves within caves. The outer cave is 15 meters deep, while the inner cave is even deeper, with the sound of underground streams heard upon entering. Below the land cave lies the water cave, known as "Haiyun Cave," named by the Hangzhou prefecture governor Zhao Yuedao during the Song Dynasty. Chao Shan produces plums, cherries, bayberries, loquats, apricots, and other fruits from spring to winter. The loquats of Tangqi and the ginger of Xiaolin, as well as the sugarcane of Linping, are renowned both within and outside the province. Today, Chao Shan has become a tourist destination with flowers in all four seasons and fruits in all eight festivals.
Liangzhu Ancient Culture Site The Liangzhu Culture Site in Liangzhu, Yu Hang, is a Neolithic late culture relic discovered in 1936, slightly later than the Yu Yao Hemudu Culture but also spanning about four to five thousand years. Among the unearthed artifacts are stone tools such as plows, sickles, hoes, chisels, and water well remnants, as well as agricultural products like rice, peanuts, gourds, broad beans, and jujube pits, reflecting the considerable development of primitive agriculture. A large number of handicrafts were also unearthed, including jade Congs, jade walls, and other jade items, clearly categorized into body ornaments, ritual utensils, and jade for embedding and inlaying, indicating that the skill of polishing jade had already been mastered, and that social life and craftsmanship had reached a highly developed level. The Liangzhu Culture Site in Yu Hang and the later-discovered Qian Shan Yang Culture Site in Huzhou (about 4,800 years old) demonstrate that the Taihu Basin was also a source of ancient civilization in China.
The Liangzhu Museum is built on the southern slope of Xunshan in Liangzhu. The entire building is grand yet elegant, with the museum name inscribed by Jiang Zemin, then Secretary-General of the Communist Party of China and President of the People's Republic of China. The Liangzhu Museum covers over 1,600 square meters and consists of an entrance hall, a jade Cong-shaped sculpture, exhibition halls, and office spaces, with a well-organized layout. The walls are made of uniform gray-white glazed bricks, while the flat roofs are covered with gray-black matte. At the corners of the exhibition halls and office spaces stand eight milky-white jade Cong-shaped corner pillars, and the eaves are adorned with custom-made gray-black tiles inscribed with Liangzhu cultural totems. On the right side of the exhibition hall square stands a towering milky-white jade Cong-shaped sculpture, simple yet dignified. Upon entering the main gate, one is greeted by a divine emblem image commonly found on Liangzhu jade artifacts. This is a composite figure of a headdress, eyes, nose, and mouth, depicting a divine horse-beast, the totem revered by the Liangzhu people. The exhibition halls introduce the "developed rice agriculture," "advanced handicraft technology," and "brilliant jade culture" of the Liangzhu region. At the back of the exhibition hall, artifacts and photographs provide a detailed introduction to major discoveries such as the Yaoshan Altar Site, the "Nobles" Tomb on Fanshan, and the Huishan Altar Site.
The origin of human civilization lies in the emergence of classes and the formation of states. The Liangzhu Culture exhibits clear class distinctions. The owners of the tombs on Fanshan and Yaoshan, with their abundant jade walls, jade Congs, and jade axes symbolizing wealth, divine power, and military authority, indicate they belonged to the noble class, while human sacrifices demonstrate the existence of slaves. The divine emblems unearthed from the Huishan Altar show that primitive religion and governance had already formed. The carved symbols on Liangzhu black pottery and some jade artifacts indicate the early stages of writing, while the massive rectangular building foundation site at Mojiao Mountain, spanning over 300,000 square meters, reveals the prototype of a state—the city-state. After examining the site, Zhang Zhongpei, former director of the Palace Museum, was deeply moved, saying, "The Liangzhu Culture has made too great and important contributions to the progress of human civilization! It is a source of Chinese civilization."
Jingshan Wanshou Zen Temple Jingshan is 25 kilometers west of Yu Hang Town and is accessible by car. Jingshan is part of the Tianri Mountain range, named for its winding paths that lead to Mount Tianmu. The main peak, Lingshou Peak, stands at 799 meters above sea level. From the summit, one can overlook the Qiantang River to the front and gaze up at Tianmu Peak to the rear. The scenery is unique—"flat forests and valleys, mountains winding and quiet," with a "powerful momentum like a horse galloping across a plain."
During the Song Dynasty, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Huang Tingjian, and Lu You, as well as Ming Dynasty figures like Zhang Yu and Xu Wei, and Qing Dynasty scholars such as Gong Zizhen, all visited Jingshan and left behind many literary works. The natural landscapes of Jingshan include Longyin Lake, Diaojiao Xi Ge, Longbi Spouting Spring, and Lingyan He Shi, while the cultural relics include the Tang Dynasty Longjing, Su Dongpo's Inkstone Pool, Lu Yu Spring, the Song Dynasty Emperor Xiaozong's Inscribed Stele, Yuan Dynasty stone pagodas, Ming Dynasty bells, iron Buddha statues, incense burners, and cliff carvings from various dynasties.
The Wanshou Zen Temple on Jingshan was founded in 745 during the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty and reached its peak during the Southern Song Dynasty. "Halls, pavilions, towers, and monasteries covered the mountains and valleys," and "flying towers and surging halls pressed the slopes, with morning bells and evening drums startling the dragon's sleep." Among the many temples in Zhejiang, which also boasts Lingyin, Jingci, Tianfu, and Ayuwang, Jingshan Wanshou Zen Temple was uniquely revered as the "Head of the Five Mountains and Ten Temples." In 1199 during the Qingyuan era of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Japanese monk Junshi received ordination from the monk Yuancong on Jingshan, and the Linji sect was later transmitted to Japan. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan, Buddhist scholars from Japan have continuously visited Jingshan to pay homage to the ancestral temple of the Linji sect, making Jingshan a sacred site for them to remember. Today, the Tianwang Hall, Daxiongbao Hall, Bell Tower (with a newly cast bell weighing 6,500 kilograms), Drum Tower, Ancestral Hall, Guest Hall, Nine-Dragon Stone Carving Screen, Emperor Xiaozong's Inscribed Stele Pavilion, and Su Dongpo's Inkstone Pool have all been restored to their former glory.